Property of the Week: Beckley Farms, Berlin

MARGARET DEMARINO

As developer Jeff Respler gives a tour of 55+ community Beckley Farms in Berlin, his talk is liberally sprinkled with the phrase “whatever the customer wants.”

It starts at the front hall closet of the sales model – a four-foot closet whose design allows for a little hallway nook for a decorative element. “But we can make it an eight-foot closet or we can make it six,” Respler says. “Whatever the customer wants.”

As the tour continues through two model homes, Respler points out possibilities: a spacious master bedroom closet can “borrow” even more space from a bedroom; a bathroom can feature steam showers with multiples heads and “all kinds of exquisite granite and marble – like built-in granite benches.”

Design flexibility is key, he says. “Every customer wants one room bigger or another room smaller. Or they might have a special piece of furniture that's a family heirloom that is huge, so we will actually design a room around a piece of furniture. Not every developer has the time, foresight and ability to make so many changes to the home.”

Customization requests can range from extra bedrooms to the addition of specialty rooms such as a sewing room, or finishing a basement and adding a fireplace there. One homebuyer even wanted a house with only showers and no bathtubs.

One home was designed for handicap accessibility with a “zero lip” from the garage into the house. It allowed an owner using a wheelchair to “roll out of the car and into the house," Respler says.

Respler and his team worked with another homeowner who was sensitive to smell and sound to engineer a custom-designed air filtration system for the home.

“He didn't want to hear the fan,” Respler explains. The air filtration vents were incorporated inconspicuously into a light fixture well. “It sucks out five times the normal amount of air,” he says.

While there are additional fees for upgrades, Respler says the homes at Beckley Farms come with many standard features that might cost extra at other communities. These include granite kitchen countertops, upgraded appliances and cabinetry, fireplaces with granite surrounds, red oak hardwood flooring throughout the main living areas, Kohler plumbing fixtures throughout the home, and decorative railings on the second-floor landing instead of a half wall.

The combination of customization and generous standard features adds up to many happy homeowners, Respler says.

According to on-site project manager Mark Kehrhahn, “People get tremendous enjoyment out of the process of designing their home and seeing it built and making it their own. Many come here every day to see the progress.”

It’s uplifting to see such enthusiasm, agrees Respler.

Even though most of the homebuyers at Beckley Farms are downsizing, Respler says, “Everything here is scaled so that homeowners don’t feel they are giving up anything by moving out of larger homes.”

Even the smallest home available at 1,475 square feet “feels spacious,” he says. Entrances open into an extra-wide hallway. Ample lighting and nine-foot ceiling heights on the main level, along with vaulted ceilings of up to 16 feet, add to the sense of scale.

Façades have a classic New England design. “From the outside, all our homes look like Capes,” says Respler. “You can’t tell which ones have ranch layouts.”

Most homeowners opt for open layouts, with a gourmet kitchen that opens to a dining area and a living room, although some prefer an enclosed formal dining room.

Another benefit of coming home to Beckley Farms is the location itself. “It's a picturesque setting in the middle of the state. You are near New Haven and Hartford and other business hubs, but yet you are in the middle of the country,” says Respler.

Some 64 homes have been sold, with four more under construction. The condominium community will have a total of 165 homes when completed. Phase IV, expected to take place in about a year, will consist of the community's first townhomes.

While Beckley Farms is a 55+ active-adult community, some 20 percent of the homes are available for those who are 40-plus, providing they have no children under 18.

According to Kehrhahn, “The demographics are getting younger and moving closer to that 55 mark. (An active-adult community) is becoming more of a lifestyle choice at a younger age. It's really appealing to people who have worked all their lives and once the kids move out, it gives them the ability to do more without having to spend all their time maintaining their home,” he says.

Beckley Farms is a condominium with a homeowners association. Exterior maintenance, landscaping, snow removal, insurance, and other community expenses are covered by a $304 monthly fee. The association also offers contracts at fair market value for interior maintenance.

The community boasts a clubhouse although most homeowners choose to entertain at home, Respler says. Most homes also feature outdoor space for entertaining with the upgrade of a maintenance-free deck. Some models have full front porches.

Homebuyers might find themselves in the position of having more money to spend on entertaining due to low energy costs. “The homes are very tight, very energy efficient,” Respler says. “It's a five-energy-star home from A to Z. Homeowners are always shocked at how low their energy bills are in the dead of winter.”

Open houses at Beckley Farms in Berlin are held every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For more information contact Debrah Almeida of The Marcon Group at 860-357-2008 or info@BeckleyFarms.com.